Review

The divine tragedy that falls upon us sputnik mortals is that Death SS is nothing but a shadow to most of the metal community here. As one of both Italy and the world's most rocking metal bands I am here to help correct that error by reviewing their balls-to-the-wall debut "..in Death of Steve Sylvester." Italy has had some seriously great ***in metal bands from the start. In every department store genre niche you can think of but I'm not sitting on my ass today typing away on the computer to go into detail about that. No, I am here today to write about the riffs, solos and legendary metallic prowess of Death SS.

Death SS formed way back in 1977, taking over a decade for the band to release their stunningly eccentric debut "..in Death of Steve Sylvester." Like Mercyful Fate, Death SS liked to delve into occult and horror film related theatrics. These topics were as significant to their visual image was it was to their sound. Face paint, naked women, guys dressed up as mummies, band pics in graveyards, creepy synths, over-the-top vokills and song titles like Zombie. If this doesn't appeal to you then you're a fake metaller. AKA a tremendous ***ing faggot. The album is eleven tracks long and awesomely metal the whole way through. Opening with the flesh ripping Vampire, Death SS sets the tone and raises the bar all at once. A brief intro of slow-moving church bells soon morphs into blistering face-smashing riffage before the tempos slow down and the music becomes more dynamic. The soloing of the zazziest caliber then enters the fold and a tasteful layer of synth envelopes the song, taking it to a whole new dimension while invoking the epic grandeur of Blood Fire Death era Bathory.

The beauty of the album is that although it's riffy and trve metal as ***, Death SS can still conjure up some excellent songwriting ideas to add depth and manly emotion to the balls out aggression. Acoustic lines, synth, organ, sound samples, an arsenal of guitar solos and what appears to be a saxophone solo on the Black Widow cover In Ancient Days sacrilegiously unite with the thrashy/doomy nature of this metal beast to create a historical metal landmark. Led by the snarling vocals of Steve, this album is straight nasty from start to finish. Riffs can be fast or they can be slow. It doesn't really matter because Christian and Kurt can murder faces at any speed. The rhythm section is tighter than a old timey nun's cunt courtesy of Boris and Eric. They don't do anything fancy but they kick ***in ass and kicking ***ing ass is very important to metal. Death SS even covers Alice Cooper's I Love the Dead, adding a Satanic splash of Italian sexiness to the already great song. Album is rhythmic and rocking from start to finish, perfect for Steel Reserve chugging even though the album closes with the token Manowarian soft song "The Hanged Ballad". Melodic, emotional and synthy as ***, Death SS have proven that with this album that they can bash in your brains, stomp on your soul, suck out your bile, strangle you with your intestines, claim your virginity, caress you tightly and steal your heart with one listen. What other band can do that?

Simply put, this is one of the greatest metal albums of all time. The trve metal spirit flows through the cash musicianship and swaggering attitude of Death SS. If you have yet to hear this then please do it now. You''re missing out.